Making the most of resources in our communities

Recent EU waste statistics published by EUROSTAT showed that the UK recycled 23% of municipal dry recyclables in 2008, which was bang on the EU average.  We were a little behind on composting, with a rate of 12% comparing to an EU average of 17%.  The news that the UK had equalled the EU average on recycling was greeted by Ministers with a cheer but for me this was a hollow cheer – since when did we celebrate being average?

Now, this is not at all to decry the efforts made in the last decade to improve our recycling and composting efforts, far from it.  We have made tremendous strides from a low base in our bid to respond to EU Directives, and there has been a rapid acceleration of collection techniques, communications, technologies and logistics all deployed in the drive for landfill diversion.

I do wonder though whether, in this headlong rush for new technology and ‘advanced’ collection systems we lost sight of the ‘people factor’?  Some of the most innovative and best performing collection schemes were (and are still) run by third sector organisations with a strong focus on people – not just the flair deployed in communicating and motivating the public to sort and recycle, but the investment made in people-friendly operations.  This often involves good training schemes for workers and volunteers, opportunities for employment created for those marginalised in society and value placed on safe working practices.

Third sector organisations have always been strong at making the connections between the waste of material resources and the waste of human resources in our society, and adept at alleviating both.  In the 1980s, the community sector was noted for innovation in kerbside sort recycling and today is also developing the same innovatory approach to the challenges of waste prevention, re-use schemes, composting and public engagement.  It is a sector which still contributes a significant amount to the resource management industry and has potential to do more, especially in partnership with local authorities that share many of the same objectives.  Making links across into other areas of concern to councils is their forte – whether this is job creation, local economic development or regeneration those links are strong and add real value to what on the face of it is simply a waste management service.

Our recent report Investment for Growth highlighted the barriers to growth that the sector faces, not least in terms of fair access to procurement of local council waste services, but it also showed the health of the sector in terms of employment and training.  Today, the sector supports over 4,600 full time jobs and over 43,500 training and placement opportunities on an annual turnover of over £133m spread across 700 organisations - a strong and diverse sector.

Perhaps it’s time to take a fresh look at the third sector if we really want to make the most of resources in our communities.

A version of this article appeared previously on Urban Mines' Thinkspot